Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128355
- - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - -Rodney, Lori and Rodney's brother, Wayne, chill in front of the Smith's beautiful horne in sunny Antioch, California. a broken tibia or fibula o r anything like that . something tha t took a tw o - or three-mo nth break. it wo uld be hard to co me back. I think th at' s helpe d make me so successful and ke pt me staying at the level that I'm at for so long." While it wou ld be easy for a pro fessio nal mo to rcycle racer to blow off the idea of getting a physical checkup at age 40. Smith. who is not only smart on a motorcycle. is smart off th e bike. as well. He made an appointme nt with his doctor. "Th is year 1 did get a physical and got my eyes checke d. because I have n't had my eyes chec ked in like 30 year s. I'm like. 'I did reac h 40, I am a guy. and I'm stu bborn , so I should get a physical: Everyt hing came out fine." But the key to turn ing 40 . Smith says. "It' s all in your att itu de . People are beginning to rea lize that just because you turn 30 or 40 that you'r e not don e." And Smith's de finitely not don e. But w he n he does pull the plug on racing. it won't be because of some number. "I've always said tha t when I do retire. it's not going to be because I'm not fast enough to win races ; it' s going to be because w hen the de sire isn't there. I don't want the pre ssure anymore . I eve n said two years ago that my desire to win a champions hip isn't as good as it was whe n I won my first one. because I've wo n four. and if I retire with five or with six, it's not going to rea lly change anything. But, yet , I still pulled it off and made five. and. yeah. I still want to try to make six. but I know that the des ire whe n it comes to pushing and shoving is not going to be as strong as it was when I only had o ne or two cham pionships. That' s just reality." Fun has something to do wit h it. too . "As long as I'm having fun. that's something that I learned . too : ' Smith says. "Whe n I was racing GP motocross and National motocross . I re tire d at abou t 28 or 29. because back then. that was getting old fo r motocross . and it became my job and I didn't enjoy riding a mot orcycle anymore. When I was in Italy and I went out to practice . people where out there with stop watches. and 20 minutes into my moto - wh ich I did three or four days a week - if a fly flew into my goggles and I had to slow down to do something w ith it and my lap times slowed down 2 seconds. they were dr illing me about it w hen I was done. It was like. 'Well. why did yo u slow down?' And I was like. 'Well. because my grips started co ming off: or whatever. It bec ame a job. and it wasn't fun anymore. It was like. 'Oh, I gatta go riding tod ay...• And then off-road racing came to Smith's rescu e. "Eve n though I re tire d from motocross. I st ill enjoyed riding. I rode the Virginia City GP and beat [Larry] Roeseler. The n I d id the Minden Qualifier. Idaho Qualifier. Trask Mountain Q ualifier [winning all of th em]. and that op ened some eyes . The y started talking about me being on the Six Days tea m in '92. but they weren't real sure. The y never re ally took a roo kie . o r a motoc ross guy - they wa nted a guy that could wo rk on the motorcycle and could finish. Dave Bertram and Mike Webb. though, knew my background . and they ended up send ing me. A lot of people didn't know I had a lot of backgro und in off-road riding [as a kid]." That yea r in Australia. Smith tu rned in one of the best pe rfor mances ever by an Ame rican at the ISDE. He finished second in the 250c c class and a remarkable fourt h overall. "That kind of tu rned my caree r arou nd." Smith says. "Suzuki hire d me in '93 as a facto ry ride r. and I too k eve rything I learned from motocross - all the diffe rent terrain th at I've ridden on over the years, from the hard pack of Italy. to the Holland sand. to the loam in Belgium. and the we t so il in England. and all of the diffe rent terrain I rode on in South America . including he re [in the United States]. and all tha t he lped make me a good allround off-road rider. You also learn how to set up bikes. chose tires, set up yo ur goggles - some times in off-road. it isn't always about who 's the fastest but who's prepared the best. " But even w ith all that knowledge . Suzuki hooked Smith up w ith forme r National Hare Scrambles champ and off-road guru Mark Hyde. "I knew who he was and knew his backgroun d in offroad:' Smith says. "He kind of became my men tor and my mechanic for the next e ight years . At the beg inning. we kind of butted head s a little bit. beca use I was the young mo tocrosser w ho wanted all-new stickers on the bike every week. and he wou ld pre p th e bike. And the bike wou ld be prepped perfectly. but the footpegs might've been scra tched, and I would paint the footpegs every wee k and touch up the frame and put on new stickers ; he wasn't so part icular about that kind of stuff. He would kind of get mad me . beca use I wou ld com e alo ng and start pee ling stickers off and putting on fresh ones. He taught me a lot about bike setup and even goggle prep and different stuff. "O ne of the biggest things he taught me was to . one, always race w ith clear lenses . I remember do ing a Qu alifie r in Ohio. it was sunn y that day. I put on a mirrored lens. and I was riding through the trees and the sun was shining through. and it made me dizzy. Luckily. there was no check in that section. and in th e next chec k I put on new goggles. I remember, he told me to do that . ;A.lways race with clear lenses.' I'll practice w ith colored lenses . but when I race , it's clear only. 'Another thing he said was never start a hare scrambles or a GNCC with a jacket or vest on . yo u'lI get too hot . '1 don 't care how co ld it is: he 'd say. I rem e mbe r do ing a WO RCS race at Hon ey Lake; it was mise rab le. cold and pouring. I tho ught. 'Y u know what. it' s so co ld o I'm going to wear my jacket .' I re member the first lap. I was sweating so bad . I had to stop and take the jacket off. And again. I remember him te lling me. 'Y our body heat will build up so much - maybe a T-shirt and a jersey.' A qualifier or an enduro . it's different. because you have slow time, but whe n you' re do ing a GNCC, a hare scrambles o r a WORCS race, yo u neve r need a vest or a jacket, and he's right. We actually learned a lot from eac h oth er. He became the best man in my wedding. and we're still budd ies ." But when Smith signed wit h Suzuki in 1993. he made it clear that his numbe r-one priority was to have fun. "I agree d to sign. but I told them I'm going to do it for fun; it' s not going to become job. and it' s not go ing to beco me my living. eve n though it is my job and is my living. [laughs] I take a diffe rent approa ch to it. Eve rything I do is for a reason, and it' s about having fun. If I get up in the morni ng and go jogging, it's because I want to go jogging and take my dog with me . not because I have to go racing this weekend. I tra in not so much for racing. it's just my lifestyle. I'm a very active pe rso n, so even if I quit racing to mo rrow. my lifestyle wouldn 't change a bit. CYCLE NEWS • JANUARY 5, 2005 43